Tea Cups & Saucers

Cups and Saucers

"What's a saucer?" a youngster asked me. "Is that a flying saucer?"

Nowadays, most children don't know what saucers for cups are. Most people drink their hot beverages from mugs, whereas we ALWAYS used saucers for tea and coffee cups when I was growing up.

The coffee cups were larger than the tea cups and not so dainty. However, they usually came with saucers. My dad used the saucer for cooling his coffee and tea, pouring some of the hot liquid into the saucer, blowing on it, then taking sips from it. (Mother objected to his doing this when we had guests!)

Mugs for Beverages

Then mugs gradually came into being. When these larger cups (generally coffee cup size) without saucers appeared, my mother thought they were "uncivilized."

She gradually changed her mind and began using decorative mugs herself. Mother kept the tea cups and saucers for serving tea to guests.

Do you use cups and saucers or mainly mugs?

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen